The use of schedulers, diaries and agendas within the professional community has become ubiquitous. Even with the introduction and expanded use of miniaturized, or hand-held computer schedulers, many people prefer to use a hardcopy, hand written notebook. Indeed, an entire business field has been created to fill the expanding demand for notebook type schedulers and diaries. An example of a company providing a wide array and portfolio of such products is Day-Timer.RTM., Inc.
While users of notebook type schedulers and agendas can write various entries and notes, including meeting minutes and appointments in their notebooks, all too often users also accumulate loose notes, business cards and other pieces of paper during each day. These loose notes are simply placed into the agenda in no particular order or means of being maintained and displayed. Because these notes, cards and papers are generally small and loose, they may fall out and be lost.
Various means of holding such notes in an agenda have been attempted without success. Indeed, the use of paperclips, adhesive tape, and the equally omnipresent use of Post-It.RTM. notes are all available to users of notebooks. Three examples of patented inventions within the United States that disclose the ability to hold or organize notes include U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,208 (Tremmel, Jr., et al.) teaching a Notebook-type Personal Organizer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,184 (La Salle) providing a Writing Pad Organizer; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,192 (Hague, Sr., et al.) disclosing a Coupon Organizer.
More specifically, the '208 patent describes an organizer comprising a multi-ring binder using a pad of adhesive paper sheets, similar to Post-It.RTM. notes, that permit the user to write a note on the paper sheets and thereafter place, reposition or otherwise use the note/paper sheet. However, there is no disclosure of how to organize, retain or hold loose notes other than the included adhesive paper sheets.
The '184 patent discloses an organizer having a back and front flap connected at a spine therebetween. To provide the "organization" capability, the back flap has a plurality of file folders, while the front flap has a plurality of separate note pads. The note pad sheets may be removed and adhered to the file folders where desired. Similar to the other described prior art, the '184 patent does not address or resolve the need the maintain loose notes in an accessible and observable location in the organizer.
Finally, the Coupon Organizer disclosed in the '192 patent uses a box-shaped housing into which coupons or potentially other loose notes could be placed. The '192 patent does not address the issue of maintaining the loose notes in an observable location. Moreover, and more important, the '192 patent does not teach use of the organizer for a ring-type notebook or agenda. The device is solely limited for use within a box mechanism.
The current inventor is also the owner of Italian Patent No. MI 95/U000306, issued May 5, 1995, for a specialized device equipped with a strip studded with perforations and containing an adhesive and protected supplementary strip, suitable for assuring an orderly arrangement of sheets of paper in loose-lead binders and similar filing devices. While Italian Patent No. MI 95/U000306 is a very useful tool, it uses a protective strip with adhesive qualities and does not incorporate a tab means to permit ease of separating the top and bottom sections of the strip. The device taught by Italian Patent No. MI 95/U000306 is improved upon by the present invention having a protective strip without any adhesive and with a tab means incorporated into the top section of the strip.
While each of the above inventions is patented, none is known to be available or widely used in the notebook/agenda market. Each of these devices exhibits certain deficiencies making its everyday and widespread use impracticable or inefficient. Indeed, the fact that none of these inventions has made its way into the mainstream market is testimony to the lack of practical utility of these devices. The various deficiencies or problems exhibited by each of these devices are intended to be overcome and solved by the present invention.
In view of this prior art, including the Dona Della Rose Italian patent, it would be desirable to have a simple and efficient device that can reusably hold loose notes, pieces of paper and similar items within a ring-type notebook scheduler or agenda. Such a device and results have not been achieved in the relevant art.